Military plane crashes in Jakarta

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The turboprop plane crashed into homes during a routine training flight on Thursday, killing at least 10 people.

By Ali KotarumalosAssociated Press
June 22, 2012

JAKARTA, Indonesia — An Indonesian air force plane slammed into a military housing complex and ignited a huge fireball Thursday while trying to land in Jakarta, killing all seven people aboard as well as two toddlers and their nanny in a home.

The pilot, copilot, and five trainees aboard the Fokker F-27 were on a routine training flight when it crashed into houses about a mile from the runway where it was trying to land, Indonesian military spokesmen said.

Raging flames jumped yards into the air and a huge column of black smoke billowed over the eight homes damaged in the crash in eastern Jakarta.

Twelve people were injured, two of them critically.

‘‘I could hardly believe my eyes,’’ said Hendra, a resident of the air force complex who goes by only one name. ‘‘At once, the situation turned into chaos. All the residents fled in panic. Women and children were screaming hysterically.’’

He said he helped at least five injured people, mostly with burns, to a hospital.

Six of the people aboard the plane died instantly, and the copilot died later while being treated at a hospital, air force spokesman Rear Admiral Azman Yunus said.

The plane broke into two parts as it hit the houses, said air force spokesman Colonel Agus Sasongko Jati. The three people killed on the ground were two children in one of the houses, aged 2 and 6, and a woman who worked as their caretaker, he added.